Posted on 02/01/2006 2:32:35 AM PST by kronos77
LONDON -- Wednesday – Ministers of Foreign Affairs and members of the Contact Group, agreed that a solution for Kosovo should be reached through negotiations, after their meeting in London yesterday.
The Contact Group members advised Belgrade and Pristina to co-operate with UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari in the search for a solution. Among the problems that plague Kosovo today, the Contact Group listed freedom of movement, links between local communities in Serbia and in Kosovo, the issue of missing persons and protection for religious communities and sites.
The Minister’s agreed that decentralisation was of key importance for the future of the province. Officials from Belgrade were told that any solution must be acceptable to the people of Kosovo, while Pristina is expected to realise that a multi-ethnic solution is the only one possible. Those willing to employ violence were told that it would only be to their detriment, and the agreement concluded that UN SC Resolution 1244 would remain the framework for negotiations.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after the meeting in London that he opposed attempts to force deadlines for the end of the Kosovo future status negotiations, adding that Russia had vetoed an effort by Western diplomats to include a paragraph in the final document that said the final solution for Kosovo would not pose a precedent for volatile situations in neighbouring countries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated earlier in Moscow that principles for resolving conflicts should be universal and implemented in the same manner in Kosovo and in separatist regions of Georgia. Replying to the comments, Georgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Gela Bezhuashvili said that most countries did not agree with Russia’s opinion that the solution of Kosovo could be universally applied. During the traditional annual press conference at the Kremlin, Putin said, “If we believe that Kosovo should be given full sovereignty and independence, why should we deprive the people of South Ossetia and Abkhazia of this status”.
Lets all bow to the follovers of half-moon and to their reqests!
Why not? We are democracy! Who cares for those stupid Christians...
I am hoping the ships wont get it. I get the feeling things are going the way of the Serbs and to give Kosovo to the ships would ignite a powder keg.
"...Putin said, “If we believe that Kosovo should be given full sovereignty and independence, why should we deprive the people of South Ossetia and Abkhazia of this status”.
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What?... is Putin nuts?! What is he really saying here?
Putin thinks he will cause "the west" pain in Georgia and Moldova, but he is really asking for trouble.
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